NORTHPORT – They say football is a game of inches, but Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class B girls championship here proved the same holds true for soccer.

A goal-producing shot that was six inches away from being blocked and another shot that came 1-2 inches away from tying the game made all the difference as the No. 2 Belfast Lions inched by No. 4 Caribou 1-0 on a balmy afternoon at Point Lookout Field.

The 16-1 Lions, who take home the program’s first regional crown, will return to the same field to take on West champ York Saturday afternoon for the state championship. The Vikings finish a solid season 11-6.

The game’s only goal of the game came from junior Abi Maycock with 32 minutes and 32 seconds left in the second half.

The play was almost an exact replay of one that occurred a minute and a half earlier as Maycock controlled a loose ball on the left side of the field and drove to the net with a one-on-one situation. Caribou goalie Billie Martin made the save with 33:53 left, but things went differently when Maycock got a second chance.

As Maycock drove in and set up for a shot, a defender converged on her. Just as Maycock struck the ball on a shot intended for the right side of the net, the ball deflected off the defender and dribbled off to the left. Martin reversed direction, but the sudden extreme change of direction caused her to slip. The ball slowly rolled by, barely eluding the swipe of a lunging Martin, and trickled into the left corner.

“Wow. It seemed to take a lonnnggggg time,” said Maycock. “I knew it was going in though.”

A little over 11 minutes later, the game seemed destined to be tied as Caribou’s Lauren Harrigan took a pass from Lindsay Burlock near the right corner and drove toward the net. Harrigan ripped a shot to the left side and caught Belfast goalie Bryna Harrington too far over to the right. The ball beat Harrington, but clanged just off the inside of the left post back out to the middle of the field and was cleared away by a defender.

“That first one … It was unfortunate that ball was deflected and went in because I think my ‘keeper had it, but that’s the way it goes,” said Caribou coach Todd Albert, whose team was without the services of standout senior co-captain Amelia Cote (mononucleosis) and then lost senior Courtney Francis three minutes into the game as she left the field with back spasms.

“The second one … She had the net and the ‘keeper in the right place, but unfortunately the ball carried a little bit too much,” Albert added. “We came a couple inches short of overtime, I guess.”

The near-miss also served the Lions well as it provided a wakeup call.

“That really scared us and I think it was good in a way because it got us back to playing hard,” Maycock said.

Martin enjoyed a stellar game in net as she turned aside 15 of 17 shots. Harrington made four saves on just six shots.

“She’s probably taken the fewest number of shots among any of the goalies in the state,” said Lions coach Don Hoenig. “We’ve had 15 shutouts out of 18 games and had four goals scored on us by just two teams.”